In a consultation document prior to submitting its planning application Applegreen said “clever design” would “hide the project within the landscape”.

It added: “We will plant new trees and landscaping to enhance the development and the landscape. There will be no loss of ancient woodland.”

The Applegreen facility would create parking for 611 cars, with 36 disabled spaces.

It would also have 15 coach parking spaces and 77 spaces for HGV vehicles with separate fuel and parking for trucks and coaches.

An additional slip road lane would be built southbound on the M42, widening Gate Lane to four lanes – three of them westbound for traffic leaving the services towards the Stratford Road – and changes to the elevated roundabout at J4.

The proposals also include adding a new lane and removing the footpath as well as a pedestrian and cycle bridge across the M42

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New woodland would also be planted to provide screening of the proposed development.

Creating a motorway service station along the Solihull stretch of the M42 has been discussed for decades and although a number of proposals have been put forward none have yet come to fruition.

Queues on M42

In 2009 the Secretary of State confirmed there was “a significant need” for a new motorway service area (MSA) between J3a and J7 for highways safety reasons, despite the entire stretch being green belt.

In its consultation document Applegreen said: “The location of our site means we can deliver a very compact scheme that does not require building significant new access road infrastructure in the green belt.